Conquering the world’s largest online marketplace with CEO of Tambo, Paul Adams #6
With an annual revenue of $280bn last year, it’s fair to say Amazon is a permanent fixture in the business world, and it’s here to stay. Navigating the marketplace as a customer is simple, but as a seller it presents a daunting challenge. Paul Adams aims to help navigate this gauntlet, as CEO of Amazon Marketplace Services platform Tambo.
His experience on the digital teams for the likes of BA and many others has positioned him perfectly to understand the steps businesses should take to find success on digital platforms. Paul shares the unique developments he’s made in the world of online sales, and the lessons learned from playing competitive tennis at a young age which carry over to his business.
Lee & PAUL discuss:
The biggest challenges in starting the business
Being at the forefront of digital developments
Retaining a business’ core DNA when upscaling
Changing long-established business models
Past and present digital ‘eras’
Links & references:
Lee Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecooperrecruiter/
Paul Adams: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmadams/
Get in touch: lee@extrology.com
Episode highlights:
“There’s no more mental game than tennis. You learn the kind of mental toughness at a young age - I think anyone playing tennis competitively stands in good stead for the rest of their life.” - 7:39 - Paul Adams
“We were working on the first ticketing websites. I developed the first BritishAirways.co.uk, using what was basic technology at the time working with agencies in London and New York. At that time, there's no electronic ticketing, so you're taking the sale off the website, and you're posting the tickets out to people. Without question, it made a huge difference to BA by doing that investment then, and it really propelled them into the internet age - now they reap the benefits of it.” - 13:45 - Paul Adams
“By nature, I'm an adventurer, so I enjoy experimentation. I enjoy the uncertainty of everything. That's why I love digital, because everything was an experiment, everything was a learning experience.” - 15:53 - Paul Adams
“The first phase of the internet is like the era of Google, and them sucking up businesses into their platform. I think the next phase would be the era of Facebook and social, and how that changed the dynamic of how people communicate, and use the internet to do that. I believe now we're in the era of Amazon, and that's why we started the business. ” - 22:01 - Paul Adams
“Everyone knows the story of what happened to Blockbuster. I cycle through to the agency environment, and having gotten out of digital agencies working in big, above-the-line agencies, it's the same problem there. All their money from clients is still coming from TV and print. So again, they were very slow to invest in digital, and consequently a lot of those businesses struggle to grow, because they weren't in the areas of where the client demand was.” - 28:30 - Paul Adams
“I do try and live in the moment as much as possible and not think too much. Obviously you have to plan, but not think too much forward. I think that the tendency then is that you don't do things - if you think about it too much, you won't do it. I'm a bit of character that will jump in and work it out.” - 38:09 - Paul Adams
“The biggest mistake that big agencies make is around the client involvement of their senior people. If you spoke to my clients today, they'll know me personally, and I hope I'm adding value to their business every day. I don't ever want me or anyone on the executive level to not be involved in client business, because that's why we're here. That's why we've been hired, so if you take that away then you just start to lose your value as an organization to them.” - 42:37 - Paul Adams
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